Paul Tillich (1886-1965), philosopher and theologian, taught in several German Universities before he fled the Nazis to America, where he taught at the Union Theological Seminary, Harvard, and the Univ. of Chicago. (For his books I’ve read, click on his name.)

This book was based on lectures at Yale given with the stipulation of the Terry Foundation that it be concerned with religion in the light of science and philosophy. Tillich says, “I have chosen a concept in which theological, sociological and philosophical problems converge, the concept of “courage.” He has the ability to probe the heights and depths, the ins and outs, of a single concept, as he did in book 184 (Dynamics of Faith), where he gave an extremely thorough discussion of all aspects of what faith means. Here he does the same with “the courage to be.” This 2nd edition has an excellent Introduction by Peter J. Gomes that summarizes Tillich’s history and his theology. Gomes says, ”Of all his many writings, none better captures the essence of Tillich’s thought than “The Courage to Be,” published in 1952”. … “With the publication of this book he burst upon the wider cultural scene and became something of an American intellectual celebrity. The book became an indispensable classic, without which serious discussion about the meaning of life could not be undertaken.” I had read this book as a college student, but I learned much more upon this rereading, having been “primed” by book 184.

His chapter titles indicate how he systematically examined the concept of “the courage to be.” Ch 1 is Being and Courage. Ch 2 is Being, Nonbeing, and Anxiety. Ch 3 is Pathological Anxiety, Vitality, and Courage. Ch 4 is Courage and Participation (The Courage to Be as a Part). Ch 5 is Courage and Individualization (The courage to Be as Oneself). Ch 6 is Courage and Transcendence (The Courage to Accept Acceptance). So first he defines and clarifies the meanings of terms like Being, Courage, Nonbeing, Anxiety and Vitality. In so doing, he describes these terms from Plato up through Nietzsche (and thus Existentialism and its courage of despair). His discussions in Ch 2 include subchapters – the anxiety of fate and death, that of emptiness and meaninglessness, that of guilt and condemnation, and the meaning of despair. Ch 4 and Ch 5 distinguish well the great differences between the two types of courage their titles identify.

All leads up to Ch 6 and its two parts. The first part is The Power of Being as a Source of the Courage to Be, which examines mystical experiences, divine-human encounters, guilt, fate, and Absolute Faith – all of which he related to the courage to be. The second part is The Courage to Be as the Key to Being-itself, which discusses nonbeing opening up to being, theism transcended, and the God above the God of theism. The idea of transcending theism may raise either your eyebrows or your hackles, but Paul Tillich goes past human limitations into transcendence. His final sentences tie together his theology: “The courage to take the anxiety of meaninglessness upon oneself is the boundary line up to which the courage to be can go. Beyond is mere non-being. Within it all forms of courage are re-established in the power of the God above the God of theism. The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.” The concepts here cannot be understood by the “sound-bites” I have given here. To comprehend Tillich is not easy – it requires deeply thoughtful reading. But I feel it is very much worth the effort, so I highly recommend this challenging book, as I did his Dynamics of Faith (book 184).